"So it's a senior from Aegis. Is something the matter?" Lu Yin asked.
The black-masked assassin was less than a hundred meters away from Lu Yin. "I heard from Starfox that you caused Aegis to suffer greatly, so I came to take a look out of curiosity."
Lu Yin's eyes flashed. "Senior, you don't have any bad intentions, do you?"
"What intentions?"
"For example, assassinating me."
The assassin fell silent for a moment. "I can't."
Lu Yin was shocked. "Senior, are you that unconfident in your own strength?"
The assassin's tone was calm. "I was the one who helped Starfox and the others avoid the catastrophe. I was also the one who founded Aegis. I don't see any chance of success in assassinating you."
Lu Yin's lips curled up. "It seems like senior is really curious to see me. If that's the case, I'll take my leave."
The black-masked assassin did not stop him and merely watched on calmly.
Lu Yin's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he looked at the assassin. "Senior, you should know that I'm now a member of the second management of Aegis. How can I join the first management?"
The black-masked assassin looked at Lu Yin quietly, and Lu Yin didn't say anything either.
Not long after, the assassin turned to leave, but before he left, he said, "If you want to join us, you can do so at any time."
Lu Yin was stunned. Was it that easy?
"Does that mean that I'm now on the same level as Starfox?" Lu Yin asked loudly.
The black-masked assassin left. He neither admitted nor denied it.
Lu Yin found it strange. The first management of Aegis was made up of a few old assassins who had survived the catastrophe. How could he join them so easily?
Was this for real?
He couldn't figure out what this old assassin was trying to do. It couldn't be that he was afraid of the old smoker, as the old smoker wasn't enough to scare this assassin.
Although it was strange, Lu Yin did not think too much about it. He would go back and have a chat with Starfox to see if he had really become one of the Aegis Masters. It shouldn't be that childish.
Lu Yin did not stop when he arrived at the Endless Cliffs. He saw Gong Ling along the way, but he did not greet him.
He then went to the Santai Cliffs and saw the boundless rune lines on the screen. His gaze turned cold, but he did not stop there either. He arrived at the Glorious Cliffs the next night.
The Glorious Cliffs and Ironblood Cliffs had suffered the least damage out of the six cliffs. Elder Autumnfrost's attack hadn't even affected the Glorious Cliffs, and even Astral-9, who had been supporting the Glorious Cliffs, had been summoned to the Endless Cliffs by Astral-9's headmaster.
As soon as he arrived at the Glory Cliff, he saw several majestic rune lines. Two of them had rune lines with a power level of over 300,000. It was a spectacular sight.
Lu Yin followed the number of rune lines and found Elder Big Drum.
Elder Big Drum was very curious as to how Lu Yin had managed to find him, as the place he was at was not a place that he frequented. Lu Yin could only say that it was a coincidence.
"Coincidence?
Then forget it. Why are you looking for this old man? "Elder Dagu asked.
Lu Yin respectfully replied, "This junior would like to exchange for battle contributions."
Elder Big Drum nodded. "Come with me."
Not long after, Elder Big Drum brought Lu Yin to a warehouse in the Glorious Cliffs and gave him a list of all sorts of things that could be exchanged, including battle techniques, cultivation techniques, materials, power vessels, star essence, and so on. There were many, many things, and Lu Yin even saw his poison that had already been diluted.
He had 120,000 battle contributions, and if he exchanged all of them for star essence, he would have 120,000 points. Actually, 120,000 was quite a lot, but what he wanted right now was not star essence.
"Elder, this junior would like to exchange for Honor Points," Lu Yin said respectfully.
Elder Big Drum praised, "Very few people are willing to exchange for Honor Points these days. You're not bad. Alright, how many points can you exchange for?"
"One," Lu Yin said.
Elder Big Drum was stunned, as he thought that he had misheard. "How many points?"
Lu Yin repeated, "Just a little."
Elder Big Drum was displeased. 120,000 battle contributions were enough to exchange for six Honor Points, but Lu Yin had only exchanged for one. If one said that he respected the Hall of Honor, then the points he had exchanged for were too few. Even if one said that he didn't respect the Hall of Honor, no one would throw away 20,000 points for no reason.
Could this kid have reached a round number?
As he thought about it, Elder Big Drum asked Lu Yin to open up his identity to see how many Honor Points he had.
Lu Yin opened it and saw that the number beside his identity was eleven. Master Yuan had promised to give him three points, but he would have to wait until he returned to a place where he could connect to the internet. Blackrock Continent blocked all signals and all technological means, so his Honor Points had not changed.
Elder Big Drum was depressed. Eleven points? What was the difference?
He tried to recall, but there was not much of a difference.
"Elder, this junior wants to exchange for one Honor Point," Lu Yin urged.
Elder Big Drum felt that something was wrong, but he could not pinpoint what it was. "Alright, one Honor Point has been exchanged. Once you connect to the internet, your identity will be updated."
Lu Yin was delighted. Regardless of whether or not Master Yuan had purposely stopped him at fourteen Honor Points, he had already exchanged for one point and could easily reach fifteen.
Lu Yin exchanged his remaining battle contributions for all sorts of materials, creating a huge pile.
At this point, he realized that he did not have enough space in his cosmic ring.
He had forgotten something all this time: could he use his die to upgrade his cosmic ring?
He had never thought about it, but perhaps he could give it a try. It would be perfect if he could upgrade it.
In the end, Lu Yin returned to the Ironblood Rocks District, as he had always been a member of that district.
After meeting up with Aden and Wendy Yushan, Lu Yin waited patiently. If the Sixth Mainland did not attack again within two months, then the chances of them attacking were relatively low.
Given the Sixth Mainland's arrogance, they would not show any weakness to their enemies. If they decided to invade the Outerverse, they would definitely be able to destroy them easily.
Two months was not a long time for a cultivator. During this time, Lu Yin occasionally met up with Liu Yin and the others, and he was also given missions to patrol the heavens. Two months quickly passed.
With Elder Big Drum's announcement, the border's compulsory conscription order was lifted. Anyone who had been forcibly conscripted could leave, and they could also stay if they wished.
Lu Yin sighed in relief, as he could finally leave.
The border war lasted for ten months, and the casualties were tragic. The Arrow Mountain Ancestor, the Dark Phoenix Ancestor, the Egret Overlord, and many other powerhouses who had once dominated the universe had all fallen here. This was the longest war that Lu Yin had ever experienced, and it was also the most despairing one. Fortunately, the Outerverse had managed to hold on.
Actually, the one who had contributed the most was Mister Mu, as without him, the border would have collapsed long ago. However, Mister Mu's contributions were destined not to be publicized, and Lu Yin's contribution in summoning Mister Mu was similarly unknown.
There were still four months until the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated. Over the past few years, Lu Yin had changed too much. He had gone from a junior who had been praised by countless people in the Innerverse to the Great Eastern Alliance's Alliance Master, and his words held an exaggerated amount of weight. Once the Innerverse and Outerverse were reconnected, his status would shock all of the Innerverse's great powers.
The war ended, and as expected, Elder Big Drum warned everyone that for at least a year, the Outerverse was not to be embroiled in internal strife, and everyone was to be on alert at all times.
Wei Rong finally relaxed. Under the pressure of the border war, even the Hall of Honor would not help Lu Yin. As long as there was no war, Wei Rong would have time to consolidate the central weaves.
Over the past two months, he had already met with many of the leaders of the central weaves, and he had even met with several leaders of the western weaves. He had attempted to join forces to resist the Great Eastern Alliance.
"Your Highness, we've received news from Meng Tianlong. Wei Rong has been in frequent contact with the leaders of the various great powers over the past two months, and he seems to have reached some sort of agreement," Aden said.
Lu Yin raised his brows. "That's normal. He wouldn't be Wei Rong if he didn't do that."
"One year is enough for Wei Rong to integrate with many powers. At that time, it'll be very difficult to take down Armament Weave," Aden said in distress. Armament Weave was the first true military opponent they had faced since the formation of the allied forces. Everyone had hoped for a beautiful victory, but unfortunately, Wei Rong's plan had failed.
Lu Yin's lips curled up. They had already boarded a spacecraft headed for Frostwave Weave, and the signal had returned to normal. He activated his gadget and saw that his Honor Points had changed to 15.
"It doesn't matter. Let's see who's faster, him or me," Lu Yin said.
Aden did not understand, as it was obvious that Wei Rong was faster. A year without a war was a dead end. Compared to Wei Rong, Lu Yin was still lacking when it came to scheming. His chances of destroying Wei Rong's plan to unite the central weaves were not high.
Lu Yin did not explain.
Twenty days later, Lu Yin's spacecraft returned to Zenyu Star.
There were a lot of things waiting for him upon his return. He had been gone for ten months, and although the Outerverse had not changed much due to the border wars, the Technocracy's attack had still caused the Great Yu Empire to suffer significant losses.
Lu Yin waved his hand and handed these matters over to the Lu Ministry of Staff.
Huan Sha's innate gift of analysis was very useful. Although it was not of much help in battle, it was very useful when it came to handling government affairs.
Many of the old ministers of the empire had already changed from their initial rejection to accepting her. Huan Sha's ability to handle government affairs was obvious to all, and they could not find any fault with her.
Furthermore, Lu Yin did not do as they had thought and purge them one by one. The Lu Ministry of Staff still existed, and so did the Imperial Cabinet.
The Lu Ministry of Staff did not monopolize power.
In the beginning, Lu Yin had intended to make the Lu Ministry of Staff the most powerful department. However, after the Ninth Imperial Squadron had begun to purge the corrupt officials, the Auna family had completely switched sides and become Lu Yin's butcher's knife. Many of the empire's officials had changed, and they were no longer as inactive as they had been in the past. These people had not only relied on their connections and family's influence to reach their current positions, but also their own abilities. When they got serious, they were all experts, and Lu Yin could not even find a target to target.
This made Lu Yin feel gratified, as as long as these ministers worked seriously, there would be no need for him to purge them, which would save him a lot of trouble.
The dark prison was filled with an unpleasant stench. No matter how the empire developed or how advanced its technology became, the prison would always remain the same, as it represented the empire's darkness and iron blood.
Xun Qianye's limbs were tied up, and his head was drooping. His lips were cracked, and there were countless wounds of various sizes all over his body. He looked dispirited, as if he had died.
Ever since he had been captured, he had been continuously interrogated and tortured, but he had not uttered a single word.